Woman Who Fled Pakistan & Settled In Odisha Pins Hope On CAA

Bolangir: At a time when there are widespread protests across the country over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the act has provided hope to many who has sought refuge in India.

One such person is Sharada Sidhwani. Sharada holds a Pakistani passport and resides with her Indian husband Mahesh Kumar Kukreja, son and daughter in Bolangir district.

Narrating her frightening ordeal during her stay in Pakistan along with her family, Sharada says that some people were trying to convert them forcefully and even abducted her father once. She also alleged that non-muslim youths and girls were forced to adopt Islam and marry members of the community.

Amid forceful conversions, Sharada claims when she turned 18, her father decided to move to India along with the family leaving behind everything including property in Pakistan.

“Those people were converting non-muslim youths and they even tried to abduct my father following which we shifted to India,” said Sharada.

After moving to India, Sharada got married to Mahesh in the year 1990 as both the families are from Sindhi community. However, before marriage, family members of Mahesh were unaware of the fact that Sharada was a Pakistani resident.

Even though it was a little shocking for Mahesh to know about his wife’s citizenship, it never turned out to be a problem, he claims. Since then Sharada applied for Indian citizenship multiple times, but her application was not approved.

However, after the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the entire family is hopeful that Sharada will become an Indian citizen officially.

“We have been trying very hard and submitted all the necessary documents for her Indian citizenship. It will be great if she gets it,” said Mahesh.